1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for adjusting an electronic system in which it is possible to predefine the n parameters of the system which correspond to an n-dimensional adjustment space, wherein at the start of the adjustment each parameter has predefined for it two limit values that delimit an initial range in the n-dimensional adjustment space, and wherein the following steps are repeated until a termination condition is achieved: evaluating a target function that quantifies the achievement of an adjustment target for the limit values that delimit the adjustment space, wherein the evaluation includes the measurement and/or evaluation of at least one physical quantity of the system that is a function of the specific parameter or its limit value, and wherein appropriate target function values associated with the limit values are obtained; and defining a modified, in particular reduced, initial range for a subsequent iteration as a function of the target function values obtained.
2. Description of the Background Art
Adjustment methods of this type are known. For example, adjustment methods that use the binary search principle reduce the initial range for a subsequent iteration by half at each iteration, wherein, e.g. in a one-dimensional adjustment space with one parameter, an initial range for the next iteration is assigned the limit value whose target function value is closer to the adjustment target.
This method has the disadvantage that with target value functions that are subject to error, such as those that are typically obtained from the measurement of a physical quantity of the system, erroneous decisions can be made regarding the assignment of the initial range for the subsequent iteration, leading to a suboptimal adjustment. In an especially disadvantageous manner, a measurement error can arise, e.g. during the generation of the target function values, such that the actual target function value associated with one limit value may be further away from the adjustment target to be reached than a target function value associated with a different limit value. As a result of this, the prior art method makes an incorrect decision regarding the further evaluation of the adjustment space and the definition of the initial range; in some cases, this error prevents subsequent iterations from more closely approaching the adjustment target that is to be achieved.
Other known adjustment methods provide for the systematic evaluation of all possible parameter values in the entire adjustment space, which in principle increases error tolerance. However, even with a discretization of two parameters with 8 bits each, an adjustment space containing 2^16=65,536 adjustment points must be examined. Such an effort cannot be tolerated in most systems to be adjusted, one of the reasons being the non-negligible length of time required for acquiring and evaluating the physical quantities.